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Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Everyone is talking about magnetic eyelashes as an alternative to the glue on falsies we've been using for years. They appealed me right out of the gate- they're cleaner, involve no glue and seemed like they'd be more comfortable to wear.
A few months ago, I decided to order a couple of cheap pairs off of eBay to see what the hype was about. My hope was to wear these without mascara- but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be passable.

The first pair cost around $4 including shipping and is a half lash set with a single magnet in the middle. These are pretty common- both the size and the single magnet. After about 2 or 3 tries, I successfully got them to click in (mostly) the right place. I recommend curling your lashes and applying mascara, and then put the top set in place. After that, slowly snap the bottom lashes into place.

These are the better of the bunch, but unfortunately the length makes a stark difference when the lashes end and they're too noticeable without makeup. With makeup, you can get away with wearing these lashes for photography. I wouldn't recommend them for regular life.
They are slightly more comfortable than glue on lashes, and much easier to remove.
After a few wears, they really lose their shape and it gets harder and harder to wear them without it being extremely obvious.

After buying the half lashes, I set out for full length with a magnet on each end thinking that would better suit my needs. I ordered another pair off eBay and the quality was terrible. They were again only able to reach halfway across my eye (despite being labeled as full length lashes), and they were extremely short in length too- shorter than my natural lashes!

I decided to take the magnets from these lashes and try to make my own full length. I don't know that the results are good for anything other than photography (again), but here are the instructions if you've got the supplies and want to try for yourself. You'll need a non-toxic glue (be sure to find one you feel comfortable with, you may not think the one I used is safe enough to be near the sensitive skin of your eyelids), toothpicks, tweezers, the magnets and 2 sets of false eyelashes trimmed to fit your eye length.

Start by removing the magnets from the old lashes. Mine came off easily with the tug of a pair of tweezers. Guys, I googled... but I have no idea where to find these tiny magnets. So, the best thing to do is probably buy a cheap pair and use those if your heart is set on making your own full length lashes using falsies.

Now you need to apply the magnets to the lash line of the falsies. There are two ways to do this, and you can choose whichever is more comfortable for you. Either use the toothpick to apply glue directly to the magnet or use the toothpick to apply glue directly to the lash line. From there, it was easiest to use tweezers (no matter the method!) to position the magnet in the right place.
Personally, I thought it was easier to put the glue on the lash line first.
NOTES!
1. Make sure you measure where the magnets are, they need to line up with the ones you put on the underside as well.
2. REMEMBER! One set of lashes is for the top of your own lash line and the other is for the bottom. So you need to apply one set of magnets to the top of the falsies lash line and one set to the bottom of the falsies lash line.
3. Make sure you're applying magnets that stick to each other rather than repel each other in the proper places.
4. Pay attention to the short end and the long end. Most falsies are made to have longer lashes on the outside corners of the eyes and shorter ones on the inside. You want a pair of left eyelashes for ONE left eye set, and a pair of right eye eyelashes for ONE right eye.

Here are the old and new falsies next to each other so you can see just how tiny the originals were. The falsies in this picture have a magnet glued to each side of the top lash line.
Once you have all 4 lashes done (One set with magnets glued to the top of the lash line, one set with magnets glued to the bottom), set aside to dry for 24 hours.
Apply using the same method as the half-sized lashes at the top of this post.

Here's how they look on, contrasted against my natural eyelashes. You can see that they don't really sit very close to my natural lash line, which is the same issue I had with the half lashes. I think these are passable for photography, but not wearing in real life.

So, the moral of the story is: I wouldn't do it again. For situations where I need (or want) false eyelashes, I'll glue them on. The only exception would be for a quick picture from far away. There I think the magnetic ones could be helpful- darkening and accentuating your natural lashes, but from afar so the edges aren't as noticeable.

Do you have magnetic lashes that you love? Have you noticed a difference in brands? I'd love to hear about it!

*Please remember that any DIY you attempt from this blog is at your own risk.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

The Christmas season is my very favorite time of year, and it is upon us again!
Every year my husband and I have a party in November (like... 3 weeks ago, haha!) to usher in the season and celebrate "The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year"!

I wanted to talk to you guys a little bit today about Christmas and our trees. We LOVE decorations and have five trees in our house! Two main, one mid sized and two miniatures.

I like to change up the two main trees annually to make Christmas feel fresh each year and to keep them from becoming dated. But since I'm super frugal (read: cheap), there is a system to it!

And here it is! Tub organization.
This is probably the least glamorous blog picture in recent history, but this is how we change up the trees annually.
After Christmas, I cruise the sales when they're crazy cheap- 70% off at least. I look for ornaments in ANY COLOR we like. Any color. Especially bulbs. I think you can get like 25 bulbs at Target after Christmas for around $3, so it's super affordable. Then the ornaments/bulbs come home and are sorted by color into these tubs! After that, I have an entire year to decide how I want to do our trees. Our main trees are white and green so that we have more combination possibilities. This year we did our green tree with white and silver decorations and our white tree with a champagne/gold and blush pink decor.
I didn't have enough blush colored ornaments and could not find the color I wanted after several trips to different stores, so I had to create my own bulbs.
I wanted to go glittered, but all tutorials online were for the INTERNALLY glittered ornaments, and I wanted mine to be externally glittered.

So basically I just experimented and made my own using this glue + some thick glitter from Hobby Lobby, both of which I already had on hand.

I used some extra gold bulbs that were a little too dark and not champagne enough and just coated them with the glue.

After that, I shook the glitter on and placed them into egg cartons and mason jars to dry for 12-24 hours. It isn't a bad idea to do half of the ornament at a time so that you don't smudge the glitter and glue with your hands or the drying crates. Once they're dry, you can flip and do the other side.
You could also just do dots of glue for a polka dot look or even stripes :)

So far they're holding up really well! I'm going to spray them with some clear glaze spray paint when the tree comes down and then store them for the year. I'll let you know how they hold up!

One last pink tree look! I often use floral stems as tree toppers, especially on the white tree which tends to be super girly. The one I've been using for a long time was too bright and too dark for this new scheme. My mom had given me a grab bag of floral stems last year and these were included and PERFECT for the lighter tree. This is about 9 stems worth. I cut them all away from the stem and used floral wire to attach them in bunches and then secured bunches to the tree with wire in groups of three. The flowers go all the way around the top of the tree.

Here's a little look at our other main tree. To be honest, I did this same configuration last year, too. I really liked it and wanted another year before trying something new!

If you're wondering what we do with sentimental ornaments, because I am SUCH a sucker for sentiment, they do go out each year too. We have a small tree that we call the "Grandparent tree" which is filled with ornaments from our deceased grandparents' trees. I can't imagine not putting them out each year. They're so special, and the holidays are when I miss my family the most. My grandpa LOVED Christmas in a way that I've never seen since.

Here are a few of my favorites from the grandparent tree. The gold swan + pink ornament are from my grandma's tree and the little tea kettle is from John's grandmother's tree. Our grandmas actually died within three weeks of each other a few years ago. It's so nice to think of them and remember Christmas traditions at their homes each year when we put up ornaments from their trees.

What are you doing for your trees this year? Any great tips? Feel free to weigh in below, and as always, thanks for reading!

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

I feel like EVERYONE has been talking about these boxes lately... and I get questions about them all the time from family and friends so it was time to write a post. I don't want to review the boxes individually- but rather as a whole, taking into consideration the entire annual experience that a subscriber has. I'm a huge supporter of this subscription box, and if you follow me on IG (@aunak), you've undoubtedly seen several of these box items in action!
A little background, I am about to receive my 6th seasonal box and 8th box overall. I've been an annual member with the company since September 2016. I'd like to share a bit about how my experience has been, what is worthwhile, some of the perks and tips about subscribing.

Fall 2016, my first seasonal box. I still use the Pure Cosmetics palette nearly every day! I traded the Modcloth scarf for another color variation, which is my favorite blanket scarf by far. The body oil is amazing- I bought three more. Mullein and Sparrow also makes THE BEST Argan Oil.

FFF is a subscription box company that sends about $300+ RV items (home, beauty, tech, jewelry) each quarter for $49.99 per box as a seasonal member. Seasonal members are under no contract and can cancel at anytime. Annual members (me!) pay $179.99 up front for an entire year and are bound to that year. We cannot cancel or skip boxes.

Being an annual member comes with several benefits that make the overall FFF experience so much better. Each box comes with about 8-10 times, and a few of those have different variations (colors, scents, sayings) which can be chosen by select members! That's the biggest seller for me. As a total control freak, I cannot leave it up to chance. I must choose the items. Additionally, your boxes drop down to about $45/box when you pay up front. Annual members have early access to add ons (I'll get to that later), but I don't find that to be a particularly useful benefit. Lastly, we are supposed to get priority shipping meaning our boxes go out before seasonal members... however, I haven't really ever had that experience.

Winter 2016. This box also has a couple add ons pictured (mostly the Yuni stuff). My favorite items here were the moleskin planner and ORG spray. I absolutely LOVE that spray- it exfoliates all the dead skin right off and doesn't cause any breakouts.

I generally recommend that subscribers start out as seasonal members. Not only do you get to use a DISCOUNT CODE, but you also can get your feet wet and decide if the box is for you before committing to an entire year. Remember- once you upgrade, you cannot get your money back if you want to cancel. Additionally, when the next season rolls around the company will usually offer plenty of incentives for you to upgrade, like a credit for add ons (see below!), which is not offered to you ever again... not even for renewing your annual subscription.

Spring 2017- this is still one of my favorite boxes. The Briogeo spray works well and smells amazing. The Karuna masks are cult status for me. I have purchased several boxes since, but the hydrating are THE BEST. They leave my skin looking plump and glowy. I also really loved the Gypsy 05 roundie and used it all summer long.

Ok- so lets talk about add ons! This is one of my favorite perks of being a member. Every season, before boxes ship, there is a 2-3 week period of add on sales. These are deeply discounted items you can purchase to be shipped along with your box. There are plenty of awesome brands each season. Past seasons have included Herbivore, Kate Spade, Juice Beauty, Karuna Skin, Modcloth, Living Proof and so many more! Items are around 50-70% off. Once the add on window opens, you can select whatever you'd like and add it to your cart. You do not check out. The window closes and whatever is in your cart you are billed for and will be shipped to you with your box. You cannot change your cart once the window has closed. During the few weeks add ons are open, people are constantly adding and dropping items from their "carts", so you need to check back often if something you want is showing as unavailable. Annual members get access to the add on sale one week before seasonal members, but in my experience if you check back on the last day of the sale, everything becomes available again as people pare down their carts.

Summer 2017- another GREAT box. I absolutely loved the Michael Stars Ruana and felt it was very wearable. I traded for another color. It folded up nicely and fit into even my smaller purses, but was warm enough in air conditioned areas to make me feel comfortable. Another great item was the Cargo HD highlighter. I use that almost daily as either a base shadow or highlighter. The add ons were STARS for me that season. I loved both Herbivore sprays ($5 each!) and really, really thought the Love Your Lashes Mirabella set made my eyelashes much longer and thicker.

Another great perk is access to the community forum boards. These boards are a wealth of hive mind knowledge where you can vent, get advice, learn a new skill or win prizes. It's also a great place to trade items you don't want from your box for something you do love. It's all honor system, but I've done probably 100+ trades without an issue. Trading can also occur in several different facebook groups, and items you really hate can be unloaded via eBay pretty easily too. Trades are SO helpful and make the experience a lot better.

Honorable mention- there is an exclusive offers section for all members as well where many top brands give FFF subscribers special discount codes to use at their websites.

Lastly, FFF TV is a FANTASTIC addition! This is a workout channel with TONS of different workouts of varying levels and genres. Barre, Pilates, Yoga, Crossfit... everything. The workouts are lead by top trainers and change every few months. This is totally free to all members.

SO what are some drawbacks? My biggest issue with the company has been shipping. They take forever to ship products. Usually, after billing, my box takes about 2-3 weeks to actually show up at my house. I am so impatient. Cannot handle that. The other big issue they encounter is warehouse quantities. Sometimes they oversell items in a warehouse/capsule/add on sale and have to issue refunds or credits.

Fall 2017- come onnnnn! Loved this one SO MUCH I bought TWO. What? yes. The charcoal whitening powder is phenomenal and really works. The Mer Sea cozy wraps? Yes. Just go to e-bay and snatch one up immediately. I got all three. The beanies are so adorable. The belts are a little cheap, but fun. AND THE TRESTIQUE LIP CRAYON IS EVERYTHING! I cannot talk about my love for that 2 in 1 product. Also really liked the Whish mud mask.

Fortunately, this company truly has the best customer service. If you have an issue they will take care of it. I've had a few items arrive damaged and they've always been very quick to send replacements. Once they sent me the wrong necklace and sent me a new one without asking for the old one back!

I absolutely LOVE this subscription box along with the community of women I've met through it. I can't imagine ever canceling my subscription. Totally worth it. But remember- start SEASONAL and then upgrade! You'll get the best deal that way and make sure that this is DEFINITELY for you! Of all of the subscription boxes I've tried or researched- this one is still the very best bang for your buck. When I consider that each item ends up being about $5, my mind is blown. It's totally worth the money as is... but adding in the perks (especially the add ons and FFF TV) make this seriously a no brainer.

Ready to sign up? Use my link and save some cash!! Add ons open November 9th, so now is a good time to sign up and get access to them before the Winter '17 box ships. Have questions? Leave them in the comment section! See something you love from a past box? Be sure to check eBay, OR hit the trade groups after signing up for the box. Plenty of past season box items are still being traded now.

Happy subbing!

*Disclaimer*
I have no affiliation with the company and have not been paid or received any other incentives to write this review. All thoughts and opinions are purely my own. Readers who use my code will receive a discount and I will receive a credit- the same way any other subscriber would.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

A little something different for you today! Many of you know about my journey with ballet. It's a total labor of love rather than a natural ability.
My mom started taking me to see the Nutcracker as a very small child (early elementary) and we have gone annually ever since. As I got older, she took me to see other performances as well- Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella... anything Russian that came to our state, we saw. I danced a bit as a child, and a lot as an adult but have *always* been exceptionally drawn to the art. Many dancers see ballet as an avenue to other forms of dance, or at best a foundation. But for me, ballet is the epitome of dance.
So, I was honored when Nicole of N. KRISTINE PHOTOGRAPHY asked me to participate in a styled bridal shoot that was themed around the grace and beauty of ballet.

The shoot was originally featured by ARTFULLY WED but, I'll be showing you my favorite pictures from the shoot, many of which haven't been featured yet, and giving a little behind the scenes info about the experience.

We shot back in March of 2017 on a cold day in Michigan. The venue was gorgeous with distressed walls and muted colors that played perfectly into the palette. If you were to go and rent this space, it would obviously be heated, but the floor we were on was unheated that day and so cold! The (beautiful) wooden floors were also uneven- there was even a warning sign posted, which was an interesting turn of events for a dancer. Between the numb feet and uneven floors, combined with the weight of the dresses and bouquets, this was challenging. I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised at how much more difficult it was to balance en pointe and hold poses in this situation. That was the difficult part for me- just realizing in the moment that this would be 20 times harder than anything I've done on stage or in a studio and having no way to go back in time to prepare. But that's kind of ballet in general- you can never go back and redo a performance.

Ballet is a struggle toward unachievable perfection. My first (adult) instructor and very dear friend told me that with all art- you cannot look back, but only forward, after it is created. While perfection in ballet is an unattainable goal- the crew we worked with absolutely hit the nail on the head. I'm so excited to share their work with you.
The above two photos were taken at the last minute on a different floor. The dress was actually too big for me, so we originally planned not to use it, but it was the only one short enough to showcase ballet or movement. When we were nearly out of time, with just a few minutes left to shoot, we threw it on and snapped a few photos. They ended up being my favorites.

All of the dresses from ALI NICOLE BRIDAL and DETROIT BRIDAL HOUSE took our breath away. Loads of lace, separates, miles of tulle... they are beautiful and timeless choices. The owners of each shop were wonderfully helpful with great suggestions and personalities that would set any bride at ease. I didn't get the chance to visit Detroit Bridal House in person, but I did spend some time at Ali Nicole Bridal and LOVED her boutique! I would definitely plan a return visit to pick up cute accessories and clothing.

The veils, from KATHRYN ANN BRIDAL, made me regret my own wedding day! Ladies, if your day is still ahead of you... please order something from Kathryn. Her work is handmade, custom and the passion she has for marriage is reflected in each veil she creates. They will truly be your crowing glory! I've already told Kathryn that if we ever have a vow renewal, I'm coming to her!

She even has a blush veil, pictured above, which made my heart soar.

On set, we had two models, myself (for ballet inspired shots) and an actual model, Tara (for the rest). It was a joy to work with Tara (instagram as @tarafromearth) who is wildly talented. She's an obvious beauty, but also so much fun and easy to be around. I can only imagine how useful her natural intuition in modeling is to those who are photographing her. Tara is so lovable!
It could have been slightly awkward to shoot these photographs, having never met each other before- but it was not! Tara is hilarious, and right after the above right photo she whispered to me, "Sorry about my breath, I just ate an onion bagel." ... it was so unexpected and fantastic that I instantly burst into ugly laughter. The resulting picture was very authentic, but I refuse to share it with you :) When I say ugly laughter- I mean... mega ugly laughter. P.S.- her breath was fine!

Let's take a moment to appreciate these arrangements. Anemones, ranunculus, shades of blue and blush. Swoon-worthy. BLOOM is renowned in the wedding business having won countless awards and also having been featured in many publications. Samantha, who is their lead designer and studio manager is *very* good at her job. She's detailed, precise and ahead of the trend.
I really loved the idea of a bouquet meant to be held upside down, which you can see in most of the more ballet inspired pictures. Samantha had to teach me how to hold it, which was slightly embarrassing.

These invitations from THE INK-STAINED MINSTREL are so well done and perfectly curated. This was one of the only vendors I sadly didn't get to meet, but would love to comment on the beauty of her work!

PRIMP did our hair and makeup for the shoot. I was impressed by their level of knowledge and attention to detail. Kathryn gave each team member photographs of her vision and direction, they took that info and ran with it. They required perfection from themselves, while still having an environment full of fun and laughter- a place any bride would want to prepare for her big day! They're also in The Knot hall of fame, which is a pretty fancy feather to have in one's cap!
You can see the (real) floral comb created by BLOOM in these photos as well. I was pretty excited when Samantha told me I could keep it! I dried the entire comb and am saving it for just the occasion.

And of course, I can't say enough good things about Nicole, from N. Kristine Photography. Nicole is truly a gift to this world. Her vision, thoughtfulness and talent come through in every shoot she spearheads. She is a dear friend and I'm very familiar with her work. Her use of light creates such an ethereal quality in her photographs. She makes everyone around her feel comfortable, which is such an important part of photography! And of course, her final product is of the highest caliber.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

*DISCLAIMER* This is simply a documentation of how I cleaned this bag. Please understand that all leather and stains are different and not every technique will work, and could even ruin your leather. Proceed at your own risk, and be sure to test everything in a inconspicuous place first!*

I've written BEFORE about buying bags second hand, and how I prefer to own just a few bags instead of several. I tend to need a rather large bag for work, and the one I had PURCHASED from Goodwill years ago just isn't cutting it any longer.

Scouring eBay for several months led to the purchase of this (now) beautiful Coach leather backpack. Made in the 80's, this baby has been running around for about 30 years! However, when my bag arrived from the seller, it was definitely a case of "expectation vs. reality". There were pen marks in several places, random black marks and worst of all- black nail polish down the side of the bag.

To be fair, the seller had shown a picture of the black nail polish- but not one which showed the damage to its full extent. And somehow, perhaps because of lighting, the rest of the deep scratches, puncture marks and stains didn't come through. I had a hard time getting pictures that showed the black markings as well, and they were easier to see on my phone than they are the computer display.

I contacted the seller and told her I was disappointed, and she did credit me back some money immediately. So then I got to work on trying to restore this bag to the incredible condition it seemed to be in based off of the photos.

Starting with he nail polish, I used some standard nail polish remover and a q-tip, which worked really well to remove it. However- it also removed the color of the the bag, which you can see in the last photo.

After removing the nail polish with the remover, I used a wet white washcloth to make sure all of the nail polish remover was out of the bag. It was important to use a white washcloth so that there wasn't any ink transfer. Afterward, I covered the water stain in my trusty cornstarch and left it overnight.

Here it is the next morning. There's a bit of nail polish left, but considering how much color was also taken from the bag, I was afraid to go after it again.

After that, I also used a white washcloth and water to mop out the other pictured black stains as well, covering them with cornstarch afterward. I had many random pen marks, but none of the remedies I normally use worked on those with this bag, and instead just left more discoloring from lifting off the leather dye.

I decided at that point to cut my losses and coat the bag in Frye Weatherproof Spray. I rely on that, as well as the cream, to keep my Frye (and other) leather boots in great condition. After spraying it on (as seen above), I buffed it in with a white washcloth and allowed it to soak in. As you can see- I started with the back of the bag to make sure it wouldn't stain or change the color of my leather.

That stuff worked wonders! It helped to redistribute the dye in areas that lost color during stain removal and left the bag looking so much better!

This is the area that was covered in black nail polish. It looks so much better! I can still see a bit of lightening at the very top, but I think a few more buffs with the Frye Cream will wipe those out.

eBay is always a gamble. It's obviously not uncommon for an item to arrive in an unexpected condition, but thankfully this time I could remedy it. Hopefully, with proper care, this bag will have another 30 years left in her!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

I'm starting a new review process called "This or That" where two similar companies or products will be pitted against each other to decipher their pros and cons! Doesn't that sound fun? I spend the money so that you don't have to!
First up is eye wear. I've been wearing glasses for 20 years. Gah. They've always come from box stores and they've always been expensive- even with "BOGO" deals that always seem to have a catch.
Recently, the online trend has been catching on and four-eyed consumers like myself have been purchasing their frames from web dealers.
I decided to give two big online retailers a go, WARBY PARKER and EYEBUYDIRECT.

First up? Warby Parker.Warby Parker has an extremely easy to navigate website and allows you to choose up to 5 frames from select options to try on at home. I immediately took advantage of that fact and had 3 pairs of glasses and 2 sunglasses shipped. For free.
They arrived quickly and well packaged (I'm a marketers dream) with clear instructions and suggestions. I tried on all 5 pairs and snapped pictures, then tweeted my two final contestants to Warby Parker's team for their super professional opinion.
THEN, tragedy struck, I discovered that my script was outdated. My doctor wrote the script for one year instead of two, even though he had no reason to do so which is borderline illegal in Michigan. But whatever.
Jerk.
So I scheduled an appointment with a different optician for an updated script and in that time decided I didn't really love any of the frames they sent.
So I ordered 5 more.
For free.

I had a clear winner in the second batch and placed my order online. This is the part that gets tricky.
They take your PD (Pupillary Distance) for you using a photograph. I think that's a huge mistake. For most people it isn't an issue, but the glasses they shipped gave me serious headaches and nausea.
I emailed the kind customer service team who put me in contact with one of their on site opticians. She helped me troubleshoot the issues and sent a second pair after having me shoot another selfie while wearing the glasses.
These were not better. My PD is monocular - which means I have two different numbers because my eyes aren't symmetrical. The ones measured using my photograph are binocular, which means they're equal distances. They were also 3 MM further apart than they should have been, so one eye was off by 2 mm and the other was off by 1. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but the headaches were out of control. I couldn't wear them for more than a few minutes without getting sick.
I again emailed the team and they vowed to this time use the number provided by my doctor instead of the measurement from a selfie, and the result was much better. I love my new glasses.

PROS:
One for One: for every pair you buy, they ship a pair to someone in need.
Cost: My frames were $100 out the door, including shipping
Customer Service: To their credit, they stayed with me until those glasses were solid- they made THREE pairs!
Style: Their design team is on point with new frames coming all the time.
Try On Program: Come on! You can try before you buy FOR FREE!
Packaging: They arrive beautifully packaged with a case and a sleeve which doubles as a cleaning cloth. However, my glasses are too long for the case (you can see this in the above photo).

CONS:
PD: Measuring this using a selfie seems like a terrible idea. They should encourage people to use the PD measured by their optician when getting an eye exam.
Script: You need to show an actual copy of your current script, which isn't required by all companies.
Time: There was a huge expanse of time between when I purchased my first pair of glasses and received the final approved pair. June 29th- August 15th.
Returns: You absolutely cannot get in contact with them to make a return.

EyeBuyDirect:
My experience with this company was short and sweet. Their frames start at $6, but that isn't including shipping or a prescription lens. Keep in mind when ordering that adding a script will up your cost $20. I also saw zero frames for $6 while casually browsing.
Their site isn't quite as clean or easy to navigate as Warby Parker, but it is FULL OF FRAMES! They have a HUGE selection and you can upload a selfie and try the glasses on virtually. I did that with the pair of glasses I ended up buying and while it was helpful it wasn't extremely accurate. The glasses looked different on me in real life, they were larger on my face, which was a good thing.EyeBuyDirect allows you to just enter your entire script (including PD!) so you don't have to use an updated prescription. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but it would have been helpful for me.
UPDATE: I ended up ordering a second pair of sunglasses from EBD. They didn't work at all and I could not get in touch with a live human to return them. I sent several e-mails and called multiple times. Once I was able to get a live human and she promised to send me a return label but never did. That was over 6 months ago and I've never been able to return my glasses. It's definitely something to keep in mind.

Also, they offer rewards programs for referrals and send out tons of coupons. I paid $37 total for my new sunglasses and they were perfect from the moment they arrived.

Lastly, they have a premium line which is more expensive- these are identical to the Baker frame that I purchased from Warby Parker, they even come in tortoise! With the added charge for a prescription and case, they would be about the same price though.

PROS:
PD/Script: You can enter the PD from your doctor, script doesn't have to be brand new.
Price: The prices are just so cheap, even the "premium line" is affordable.
Time: They were at my door in about 8 days after ordering.
Selection: MASSIVE
Coupons: They're always offering sales, money off for referrals and incentives to buy if you wait it out.

CONS:
Quality: I like them, but they don't seem sturdy enough to last as long as my expensive prescription sunglasses. These are backups.
Website: It could be a *little* cleaner.
Packaging: I don't find their packaging to be very appealing. They come in a sliding box which cannot be used as a case and have a fabric sleeve. A case is a $4 extra charge that I'm wishing I had paid!

In summary, both companies are good. I lean a little more toward EyeBuyDirect if you plan to have several pairs or often lose/break yours. Otherwise, Warby Parker's frames are a bit more sturdy. Using my link to their site allows you to save $10 on your first purchase :)

Have you used a different online retailer? I'd love to hear your experience below!

*I have not been solicited for my opinion or received anything for writing this piece. All opinions are my own. The provided link for EYEBUYDIRECT is unique to me and does provide a referral kickback if used, the same as it would for any other customer who is part of the referral program.